Sunday, February 28, 2010

"The kind of God that appeals to most people today would be easy-going in his tolerance of our offenses. He would be gentle, kind, accommodating. He would have no violent reactions. Unhappily, even in the church we seemed to have lost the vision of the majesty of God. There is much shallowness and levity among us. Prophets and psalmists would probably say of us, "There is no fear of God before their eyes." In public worship our habit is to slouch or squat; we do not kneel nowadays, let alone prostrate ourselves in humility before God. It is more characteristic of us to clap our hands with joy than to blush with shame or tears.

We saunter up to God to claim his patronage and friendship; it does not occur to us that he might send us away. We need to hear again the Apostle Peter's sobering words, "Since you call on a father who judges each man's work impartially, live your lives in reverent fear." (1 Peter 1:17) In other words, if we dare to call our judge our Father, we must beware of presuming on him. It must even be said that our evangelical emphasis on the atonement is dangerous if we come to it too quickly. We learn to appreciate the access to God which Christ has won only after we have first cried, "Woe is me for I am lost."

Saturday, February 27, 2010

"When they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left" (Luke 23:33).

What profound depths there are in the mystery of the cross! We can gaze on that One who hung there between two thieves, a spectacle to Heaven, earth and hell, and see the perfect measure of every person in the whole universe of God.

The Saviour

First of all, we must gaze at the center cross, or rather at Him who was nailed thereon--Jesus of Nazareth--that blessed One who had spent His life in labors of love, healing the sick, cleansing the lepers, opening the eyes of the blind, raising the dead, feeding the hungry, ever ready to drop the tear of true sympathy with every child of sorrow. When we come to inquire what it was that placed Him there, we learn two profound truths.

In the first place, we are taught what man's heart is toward God. When the people cried out "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!" that voice was the utterance of the human heart, declaring--as nothing else could--its true condition in the sight of God. But now look at the cross as the ultimate expression of God's heart toward man: "But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). Those who have accepted the judgment of God against themselves--who truly own that the cross is the measure of their guilt--can appreciate the cross as the expression of God's heart toward them.

The Penitent Thief

We shall now turn to the other two crosses, and the men who hung on them. It is of the utmost importance to see that there was no essential difference between those two men. In nature, in recorded history, and in their circumstances, they were the same. In Matthew 27:44, we read that "The thieves also, which were crucified with Him, cast the same in His teeth." So also in Mark 15:32, "They that were crucified with Him reviled Him." Now this divinely proves that there was no difference between them until the moment in which the arrow of conviction entered the soul of him whom we call "the penitent thief." The more clearly this is seen, the more the sovereign grace of God shines out in all its brightness.

Note the change in this sinner's heart; listen to the words of the penitent thief: "Dost not thou fear God ... for we receive the due reward of our deeds" (Luke 23:40,41). Here are the accents of genuine repentance--a sense of personal vileness, guilt, and danger. By the Spirit's work in his soul, he felt and owned that he was justly condemned. This change of mind and heart is repentance. Let the reader ponder it deeply; it is an essential element in salvation. "Repent ye therefore, and be converted" (Acts 3:19). "God ... commandeth all men every where to repent" (Acts 17:30).

But we have further lessons to learn from the lips of the dying malefactor. "He said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom" (Luke 23:42). Think of this! Think of one who had been railing on the dying Saviour, now owning Him as Lord and King! Truly this was a divine work. Surely this was real conversion--a true turning to God.

Note the divine response to the appeal of the penitent thief: "Today shalt thou be with Me in paradise" (Luke 23:43). Consider how brightly grace shines in the salvation of the thief on the cross. Clearly he had no good works to trust in. The rites, ceremonies, and ordinances of religion could do nothing for him. He no longer had the use of his hands and his feet--so indispensable in man's religions of works. But his heart and his tongue were free; and these are the very things that are called into exercise in God's path of faith: "With the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation" (Romans 10:10).

The Unbelieving Thief

Let us now fix the eye, for a brief moment, upon the third cross. What do we behold? A guilty sinner? Not merely that: we behold an unbelieving sinner. This is the solemn point. Who can fully estimate the contrast between those two men? They had been so similar, but now the grand and all-important difference lay in this fact: one believed in Jesus, and the other did not. One was enabled to say "Lord, remember me," and the other said, "If thou be the Christ."

On which side of this line are you standing at this moment? Are you, like the penitent thief, linked with Christ by a simple faith? Or do you speak of Christ and His saving power with an "if"? Do not put this question away. Take it up and look it solemnly in the face. Turn to Jesus now! Come just as you are to Jesus, who hung on that center cross for you and me.

Proof of the deity of Christ."Jesus Christ ... declared to be the Son of God with power ... by the resurrection from the dead" (Romans 1:3,4).

An integral part of the gospel."The gospel ... how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures" (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).

The seal of the finished work of Christ."When He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high" (Hebrews 1:3).

Essential for salvation."If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins" (1 Corinthians 15:17). "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved" (Romans 10:9).

Evidence of the believer's justification."Jesus our Lord ... was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification" (Romans 4:24,25).

Vital for possession of eternal life."I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die" (John 11:25,26).

Guarantee of the believer's resurrection."Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout ... and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them ... to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord" (1 Thessalonians 4:14-17).

The reason for the believer's hope."Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which ... hath begotten us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead" (1 Peter 1:3).

The assurance of the sinner's judgment."He hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that Man whom He hath ordained; whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised Him from the dead" (Acts 17:31).

"But now is Christ risen from the dead" (1 Corinthians 15:20). "He showed Himself alive ... by many infallible proofs" (Acts 1:3).

Sunday, February 21, 2010

It was a spring evening in San Francisco. A meeting for Jews and Gentiles had just been thrown open for discussion. An elderly Jewish gentleman had taken the floor. "This is Passover week, my Jewish brethren, and as I sat here I was thinking how you will be observing it. You will have to put away all leaven from your houses; you will eat matzoth and the roasted lamb; you will attend the synagogue and carry out the ritual and direction of the Talmud.

He continued: "But you forget, my brethren, that you have everything except that which Jehovah required first of all. He did not say, 'When I see the leaven put away, or when I see you eat the matzoth or the roasted lamb, or go to the synagogue.' His word was, 'When I see the blood I will pass over you.' Ah, my brethren, you cannot substitute anything for this. You must have blood, blood, BLOOD!"

The requirement of Jehovah referred to by the gentleman is in connection with the deliverance of the Israelites as recorded in Exodus 11 and 12. Nothing but the blood of a lamb without blemish sprinkled on the lintel and doorposts of the house could save the firstborn from death. To the natural mind, those blood marks signified nothing; to the eye of faith they meant everything, for God had said: "When I see the blood, I will pass over you."

At midnight the test came. Jehovah visited the land of Egypt. Upon every house where there was no blood sprinkled, judgment was executed. The firstborn was slain, and there was a great cry in Egypt. Every house that had the blood sprinkled upon it, He passed by. Why did Jehovah pass over Israel? Because the judgment they deserved had already been executed upon them in the object of their substitute--the slain lamb. The blood sprinkled was a sign of their faithful obedience to Jehovah's command.

It mattered not that some among the Egyptians were moral and upright before their fellow-man. In God's sight they were sinners and needed divinely-appointed protection. God looked for the blood, and not finding it, executed His just decree. It mattered not if any firstborn of the Israelites were great sinners. God saw the sprinkled blood, and therefore passed them by. The blood, or the absence of it, made all the difference, and guided the Lord in His righteous judgment that night.

These are solemn realities recorded in the Word of God for the warning and instruction of people--both Jews and Gentiles--in the world today. God's principles do not change. The ground on which He saves a sinner is always the same. The lamb in Exodus 12 is a picture--a type--of the Lamb that God, in His love, provided to make a way of deliverance from the judgment we all deserve because of our sins (Romans 3:23).

"Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29), exclaimed John the Baptist as he heralded the appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ on the scene of His ministry. "Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us" (1 Corinthians 5:7), exclaimed Paul.

God had declared "It is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul" (Leviticus 17:11), and "without shedding of blood is no remission" (Hebrews 9:22). Through John He tells us: "The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin" (1 John 1:7). Through Peter He says man is redeemed "with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot" (1 Peter 1:19).

Thus there is deliverance from sin and judgment only through the blood of Jesus. It is not when God sees your moral and upright life; nor your faithful religious functions; nor your baptism; nor your charitable works to fellowman, but "When I see the BLOOD." When He sees that you have taken refuge beneath the blood of Jesus, in repentance accepting His guilty verdict because of your sin, and in faith accepting His provision of the blood of Jesus shed for you: then, and then alone, will He pass over you in the hour of judgment.

Friend, make Christ your Lamb today! Judgment is coming. God now commands you to repent. Will you not thankfully receive Him as your living, loving Redeemer who shed His blood for you? Claim right now the promise in John 5:24:

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation [judgment]; but is passed from death unto life."

Sunday, February 14, 2010

It is almost twenty years since I sensed God's call to the ministry. At the time I was managing a small high-tech company with a license from British Telecom and I had a neat idea to integrate mid-infrared transmitting optical fibers and Fourier Transform Spectrometers (it was as complicated as it sounds). But, we had a problem – lack of finances. The company was underfunded from the outset. So, when I took over as CEO I knew I had to make some difficult decisions. I didn't make them alone. Our CFO was a Christian and we committed the business to the Lord. By a combination of hard work and close cooperation our small team accomplished a lot more than we everthought we could with a lot less capital than we thought we needed. We did more with less.

When God's call came to leave the business world and train for the ministry I faced a similar problem. I had a daughter in her first year of college, a mortgage, a car payment and the usual household and living expenses. Although God's call was unmistakable, and I was confident that he would make it possible for me to quit my full time job and go to Seminary – at the time I could not see how He would provide, but God could. Mickie and I committed everything to the Lord. On graduating three years later we had paid off all college and seminary fees as well as the cars. My income during those three years was considerably less than when I worked full time. We did more with less.

The Bible is full of stories (real historical events) where those who trusted the Lord accomplished great things with limited resources. We think of how Gideon defeated a great army with just a few hundred men; how the young shepherd boy David brought down the mighty Goliath; how Jesus multiplied a few loaves and fishes to feed thousands; how twelve disciples turned the world upside down. Throughout Scripture God is shown time after time to be able to bring victory out of apparent defeat and to accomplish tremendous things through a single person or a handful of peoplewho trust Him to do the impossible. They did more with less.

Nor does the story end with the Scriptures. Church history bears testimony that God has not been idle in the nineteen centuries since the closing of the canon. The history of missions is the story of Jesus building His church with what seems to be utterly inadequate resources in the face of overwhelming opposition. Everywhere the gospel has gone it has been contested by the forces of darkness, and everywhere it has flourished. Think of how Christianity spread across the Middle East, North Africa, Europe, Asia, the Americas and then back to Africa and into the farthest reaches of Asia and the islands of the seas. Almost always the gospel has been carried into the unreached regions by a single individual or a very few equipped with little more than a few bags of belongings – but buttressed by faith and prayer. They did more with less.

The Bible, history and our own experience teach us very clearly that God is in the business of accomplishing his purposes through men and women who recognize their weakness and trust in His strength, who see themselves as small but know they have a big God. Rehoboth Baptist Church is smaller now than in recent years. But God isn't. I just wanted to remind you of that and encourage you with the fact that God is yet at work among us. We will see Him do great things through us if we will trust Him. If we will, He will see to it that we do more with less (Phil. 4:13).

Saturday, February 13, 2010

"He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5).

Wounds, according to the definition of the surgeon, are divisions of the soft parts of the body by a mechanical force applied externally, and they are classified by their different characters as (1) contused; (2) lacerated; (3) penetrating; (4) perforated; and (5) incised wounds. It is remarkable that in the simple statement, "He was wounded" there is included each kind of wound, as we may readily see from the examination of the Scripture records concerning the sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ.

(1) The Contused Wound. A wound produced by a blunt instrument. Such would result from a blow by the rod, as foretold in Micah 5:1, "They shall smite the Judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek," and fulfilled, as recorded in Matthew 26:67, "They smote Him with rods" (Margin, Newberry); Matthew 27:30, "They took the reed, and smote Him on the head"; and John 18:22, "One of the officers struck Jesus with a rod" (Revised and Newberry, margin).

(2) The Lacerated Wound. A wound produced by a tearing instrument. Laceration of the tissues was the result of scourging, and scourging had become a fine art among the Romans at the time of our Lord's submission to infliction.

The Roman scourge was a many-tailed lash, each thong tipped with metal or ivory, so that, in the hands of a cruel expert, the sufferer might truthfully say, "The plowers plowed upon My back: they made long their furrows" (Psalm 129:3). The torture, the laceration, and the consequent loss of blood, often resulted in the death of the victim, but scourging, while part of our Lord's sufferings, was not to be the means of His death.

Thus the prophetic word of Isaiah 50:6, "I gave My back to the smiters," finds its fulfillment, as recorded in Matthew 27:26, and in John 19:1, where we read, "Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged Him." And let us remember that upon His back, thus lacerated, the Cross was laid as He went forth to the place called Calvary.

(3) The Penetrating Wound. A deep wound caused by a sharp-pointed instrument. This we have exemplified in the wounds upon the head produced by the crown of thorns. The Jerusalem thorn, from which that "victor's crown" was platted, bore spicules four inches long, and, as the soldiers pressed down that cruel diadem upon His head (Matthew 27:29; John 19:2), a circlet of wounds ensued, wounds which were deepened by the blow of the reed when they smote Him on the head (Matthew 27:30).

Crucifixion was not practiced as a means of capital punishment by the Jews, and the words must therefore have puzzled even the writer of the Psalms, but at that early date God was thereby "signifying what death He should die" (John 12:33), for to Him, who knows the end from the beginning, the Roman subjugation of the Jews at the time of Messiah's advent, and His being "cut off" (Daniel 9:26) by the exquisitely painful death of crucifixion, were all foreknown. And to our Lord "the decease which He should accomplish at Jerusalem" was a matter of perfect knowledge. The prophetic question in Zechariah 13:6, "What are these wounds in Thine hands?" was ever before Him, and thus we can truly sing--

"'Twas love that nailed Thee to the tree,
Or iron ne'er had bound Thee."

(5) The Incised Wound. A cut produced by a sharp-edged instrument. "But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced His side, and forthwith came there out blood and water" (John 19:34). This wound was inflicted after the death of the Lord Jesus, inflicted by the practiced hand of the Roman soldier to make certain that whatever vestige of life was present would be extinguished, but while it did not cause death in His case it is an assurance to all men that death had actually occurred, and it is also a fulfillment of the Scripture which says, "They shall look upon Me whom they have pierced" (Zechariah 12:10).

And from the wound (so large that Thomas could have thrust his hand into it), "came there out blood and water. And he that saw it bare record and his record is true" (John 19:34,35).

This wonderful sight awakened surprise and deep interest in John and may surely engage our attention also, namely the water that flowed from the pericardium and the blood that flowed from the heart. The pericardium is a closed sac encasing the heart and lubricated by a small amount of fluid (about a teaspoonful) to facilitate the motion of the heart. How could John, it may be asked, distinguish such a small quantity of water?

In answer let me quote a significant statement from a standard work (Mallory and Wright's Pathological Technique): "The normal amount [of the pericardial fluid] is about a teaspoonful, but it may be increased to 100 c.c. [24 teaspoonfuls] where the death agony is prolonged." Here then is a confirmation by scientists of the mute testimony borne by "the water" to the intense suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ.

And what shall we say to the fact that, contrary to nature, blood flowed from One who had died? Is it not to show that in death He vanquished death and did not see corruption (Acts 2:27,31)? Thus the last wound, the last indignity offered to the body prepared for Him, proclaims both purification and redemption.

"The very spear that pierced His side,
Drew forth the blood to save."

May the contemplation of these wounds, whereby His body was broken and His blood was shed, deepen our love for Him who was "wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities," and cause each of us, like Thomas, to worship and acclaim Him as "MY LORD AND MY GOD" (John 20:28).

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

This morning in chapel our registrar, Keith Edwards, gave us a very encouraging exhortation from Galatians 3. In his presentation he mentioned something that his mother would say to him as a boy, something to the effect that God will always give us enough blessings to encourage us and enough trials to keep us humble and dependent upon him. As I listened I was impressed with this gem of motherly wisdom because we need both encouragement and humility if we are going to fulfill God's calling on our lives in a way that meets with his approval. Without timely encouragement we will lose momentum and sputter our way into discouragement. But without challenges that make us look to God for help we are wise in our own eyes and useless when it comes to accomplishing anything of lasting spiritual value. Encouragement keeps us from despair and obstacles make us grow in the Lord and his strength.

One does not have to look far in the scriptures to see this principle worked out in the lives of God's people. The Lord schools all of his children in this way, including his choice servants. People like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob immediately come to mind, as do others like Joseph, Moses, Joshua, David, Daniel, John, Peter and Paul. Beyond the Bible, church history is replete with examples of God leading his people step-by-step, challenging them, but never giving them more than they can handle. Knowledge of the ways of God can make the whole process much more transparent, and while all the mystery of God's will is not evaporated, we are given reasons to trust his leading each step of the way.

Monday, February 8, 2010

Oh Lord, send a great awakening among your people again according to Your Word; by Your Holy Spirit, for the praise of Your glory, for the spread of Your gospel, for the holiness of Your people. Leave us not in the condition in which we awoke this morning, but conform us by Your grace to Christlikeness so that we may be vessels fit for the Master's use.

This only is a work of heaven--for no man can conjure up a genuine move of God; no man can transform the heart of another; no man can stir the conscience to repentance, convict the soul of sin, and invoke contrition over iniquity. All our ways are impotent before You; and even when we have done all to obey You, we are still "unprofitable servants."

But the true church marches on her knees; and so may we run into the prayer closet this very hour, shut the door and see what You by Your sovereign grace will accomplish. For "it is not by might, not by power, but by My Spirit" says the Lord.

Forgive us Lord for being consumed with the advancement of our own ministries at the expense of others, for measuring the effectiveness of Your work by the size of a church's yearly offerings, and for charging others for that which we have received freely by Your grace. Dash to the ground our paltry plans, our self-devised and promoted reputations, our carefully positioned and politically aligned agendas and alliances. As my friend once said, "How can we be so dead when we've been so well fed; Jesus rose from the grave, but we, we can't even get out of bed."

May The Swordsman, by His divine sword, whittle us down to size as You did Gideon of old, so that we may not find comfort, resolve, or hope in our own strength, wisdom or wealth. May all our lowly boasting turn to tears, all our pride turn to dust, all our vain exaltations of self turn to ash; may our "laughter turn to mourning and our joy to heaviness" until reformation comes... until revival comes to Your people. Break our stubborn hearts with the hammer of Your Word and humble us under Your reverential fear until our deepest longing, passion and joy is found only in Christ Jesus the Lord.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Mark 1:15 "Repent ye, and believe the Gospel."These are the words of our blessed Saviour, addressed to poor guilty sinners like you and me. But what is repentance? It is a work of the Spirit of God upon the heart, producing such an inward sense of the evil and guilt of sin, as makes a man wonder that he is out of hell; such a hatred of sin as causes a man to forsake it; and such an apprehension of the consequences of sin, as makes a man willing to be saved wholly and solely through what Jesus Christ has done and suffered for lost souls. The penitent sinner is convinced that sin deserves punishment; that he himself, as a sinner, is liable to the wrath of God; that sin must be pardoned or punished; that he can make no amends for the least of his transgressions; and consequently that his salvation must be all of grace.

The man thus humbled, is prepared to welcome the news of a Saviour who came to seek and to save that which was lost (Matt. 18:11). Such is the Gospel. It is glad tidings to a lost, guilty world. The sum and substance of it is this, that "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners" (1 Tim. 1:15). He died to make satisfaction for their sins; and being God and man in one Saviour, "He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him" (Heb. 7:25). His blood being the blood of God incarnate (Acts 20:28), was infinitely meritorious; and it was shed for this very purpose, to take away sin; so that if your sins, poor self-condemned sinner, are more in number than the hairs of your head, or the sand on the sea shore; if they are great and aggravated, and red like scarlet, yet there is hope. "The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth (hath virtue to cleanse) us from all sin" (1 John 1:7).

But how am I to become interested in this, and get comfort of it? "Believe the Gospel:" rely on what the Word of God says about Jesus Christ, and His willingness and power to save sinners. But may I without presumption believe that Jesus Christ came to save such a wretch as I am? Yes, "this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ" (1 John 3:23). There can be no presumption in doing what God has commanded, and taking God at His Word.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

I want you in that day when you stand with me before the judge of the world to have him say, “Come you blessed.”

I don’t want to look at you standing there saying, “Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord, I named you in earth. I named you before the elders. I named you before the church. I named you in prayer meeting. I named you in witness. And, Lord, now, Lord, Lord, did I not this, did I not that?”

I don’t want to hear him say, “Depart from me. I never knew you, you worker of iniquity. You never were made a doer of the will of God. You learned enough and you learned what to say properly enough to be accepted for what you professed yourself to be on earth. But now the day of judgment is come and the truth is now to be known.”

The Five Solas of the Reformation

Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone)
The Bible is the only inspired, inerrant authority for Christian Faith, and it contains all knowledge necessary for salvation and holiness.

Sola Fide (Faith Alone)
Justification is by faith alone. The full righteousness of Christ imputed to us by faith (comprised of His active and passive obedience) is the sole ground of our acceptance by God, by which our sins are remitted.

Solus Christus (Christ Alone)
Christ is Prophet, Priest and King; the only mediator through whose work we are redeemed.

Sola Gratia (Grace Alone)
Salvation comes by God's grace or "unmerited favor" alone — not as something merited by the sinner. This means that salvation is an unearned gift from God.

Soli Deo Gloria (Glory to God Alone)
All glory is to be due to God alone, since salvation is accomplished solely through His will and action — not only the gift of the all-sufficient atonement of Jesus on the cross but also the gift of faith in that atonement, created in the heart of the believer by the Holy Spirit.

Based on SCRIPTURE alone, we can affirm that justification is by GRACE alone, through FAITH alone, because of CHRIST alone, for the GLORY OF GOD alone.